Guitar Study
Achieving Great Guitar Tone with Amps and Software
Total lessons in study:
In this study, IG instructors go over various ways to go about achieving an ideal guitar tone, whether it be with actual amps or simulated with software plugins.
1. Achieving Tone Through an Amp
Hi guys,
This tutorial focuses on some basic principles for miking a guitar amp, in both a live, and a studio situation. In each of the following videos, I'll include sound samples, to give you a proper understanding of the basic variations which can be achieved by changing the position of a microphone. I also provide tips...Read More
Basic position variables:
Location: Center, Off-Center, Edge
Axis: On or off. Measurement of angle.
Distance: Distance between speaker and micrphone.
Samples, in order:
Center, on axis
Off-center, on axis
Edge, on axis
Center, off axis
Edge, off axis
Center, close distance
Center, medium distance
Cent...Read More
Common types of microphones, for recording guitar amps:
Dynamic: (Usually close miked, durable, standard for guitar amps/cabs. Ex: SM57)
Ribbon: (Delicate, dark in tone, expensive, sensitive to room noise. Ex: CAD Trion 7000)
Condenser: (Wide frequency range, good for ambiance, not good for close miking, requires phant...Read More
In this final clip, I spend a few minutes playing, and moving the microphone around. Hopefully by now, you have a clear understanding of the importance of mic position!
Please provide feedback and requests for perhaps, an advanced miking tutorial.
See you next time!Read More
2. Getting Great Tone with FREE Software
Welcome to this tutorial on Getting Killer Guitar Tone for FREE!
The idea for this tutorial sprung from me looking for good software-based tone that would allow me to only bring my guitar and a small laptop to certain clinics where I either didn’t want to lug amps (or couldn’t), or a decent backline wasn’...Read More
In this part, we continue exploring the different tones of the impulse responses. You will see how radically a different impulse response can change your overall tone!
As you can see, with most of the free responses, what you see is what you get, whereas with a paid app like Recabinet, you have more tweaking options and al...Read More
Now for Part 3. A very common trick in the studio is to use a good overdrive pedal in front of an amp. This is primarily used in non-master volume amps such as old Marshalls to fry the front of the amp a bit and up the gain and compression. A Tube Screamer type circuit does the job brilliantly here since it sort of acts lik...Read More
3. Impulse Responses: What They Are and How to Use Them
Hi there guys! Welcome to this months tutorial which is a slight departure from what you were probably expecting.
First let me say that 'Playing over Changes Part II' is coming your way next month but I wanted to make that tutorial as awesome as possible for you with written examples and lots of ideas. So, I need a little ...Read More
So, as I said in the previous video, we'll be using convolution technology to record the preamp section of our amp and model the Power Amp and Cabinet section. This enables us to keep the fantastic tone produced by our amp yet record at low volumes and not require mics. The advantages of this are obvious and means we get a ...Read More
Okay, so I have my FX send connected by a standard guitar cable into Input 8 on my soundcard. Remember - I have NOT unplugged the speaker from my amplifier. I can still hear the sound of the amp coming through the cabinet - just very quietly as my volume is down. That channel is selected in Logic and I've added an IR to the...Read More
Here's the links for the IR hosts named above,
LAConvolver for the Mac
http://audio.lernvall.com/
Kefir for the PC
http://habib.webhost.pl/
Voxengo Boogex for the PC
http://www.voxengo.com/product/boogex/
Freeverb 3 for the PC
http://freeverb3.sourceforge.net/
For Impulse Responses I thoroughly recommend Re...Read More
4. Reamping: Customizing Tone After Recording
Reamping is the process of sending a DI signal back into an amp/modeler to reshape your tone to how you want. This is used in pretty much also studios today, so that artists can go back and get a different tone, and not worry about keeping the original recorded tone if they’re not satisfied with it.Read More
The process of reamping is actually very easy. For this demonstration, I’m going to be using my Fractal Audio Axe-fx II.
1. The first step is to open your DAW, and make two audio tracks. Label one as “Amp tone” and the other one as “DI”.
2. Next, go into the preferences menu of you DAW ...Read More
For reamping with an Axe-fx II you need:
Axe-fx II
1/4” guitar cable
USB cable
Guitar
For reamping with amp/cab setup you need:
DI or Reamp box
1/4” guitar cable
XLR to 1/4” cable
Microphone (SM57 for guitar)
XLR cable
Guitar
Read More